The title of Hero of Ukraine is the highest award that can be conferred by the Government of Ukraine. The title was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma, and it is currently awarded in two distinctions: one for heroism and one for great achievements in labor.

Since Borys Paton first received the title in 1998, 144 people have been awarded the title. Decorations that are similar to the Hero of Ukraine are Russia’s Hero of the Russian Federation and Belarus’s Hero of Belarus. All of those decorations were influenced in some way by decorations awarded by the Soviet Union.